Tony Norman

Tony Norman is the President and CEO of the CWDSF. He holds both his BA in Political Science and his JD degree from Howard University. Tony has been a practicing attorney for over 35 years and has also served as a part-time lecturer in Community Development and Law at Howard University.

He has been actively involved in community work for decades: he has served as a past Chairman of the Pacifica Foundation and the WPFW Radio Board, as well as a member of the Howard University Citizens Advisory Council.

He has been a member of the Pleasant Plains Civic Association since 1994, where he served as Vice President from 2013. Since 2015, he has been on the Board of Directors for Columbia Heights Development and has chaired the McMillan Park Committee since 2000. Tony previously served as ANC 1B Commissioner (2015–2017) and also as Chairman in 2016–17; he is also past President of the Bloomingdale Civic Association.

Patrick Nelson

Patrick Nelson is the Vice President of the CWDSF Board and has been a stalwart community activist in Ward 1 for more than 20 years. He served as Vice President of the Pleasant Plains Civic Association from 1994 to 2019 and as Treasurer of the Development Corporation of Columbia Heights from 1999 to 2011.

Patrick has also been deeply involved in public safety and the arts: he was Treasurer of the Citizens Advisory Council for the 3D Metropolitan Police Department, serving from 1995 to 2016, and since 2014, he has served as Treasurer of the Emergence Community Arts Collective. He presently chairs the ANC 1B Zoning Preservation and Development Committee, serving on it since 2006, and has been actively part of the Howard University Citizens Advisory Council since the council’s founding in 1995.

He received an Associate Degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management in 1980. Patrick worked as Comptroller for the Grocery Manufacturers Association from 1998 to 2007 and as a Technician at Target Photo Lab from 2008 to 2013. He has devoted his full time to community service since his retirement in 2014.

Darren Richard Jones

Darren Richard Jones represents the position of Treasurer on the Board of CWDSF. Jones has remained exceptionally active in the community since graduating from Cardozo High School in 1978. He obtained an AA in Management Technology in 1980, a BA in Urban Studies in 1982, and an MBA in 1986 from the University of the District of Columbia. He received a Master of Science in Library Science from Catholic University in 2000.

Since 1994, Darren has been a Reference Librarian at the Library of Congress and also directs the Maple Springs Baptist Bible College and Seminary Library in Capitol Heights, MD. He has been a change agent at the Library of Congress as a member of AFSCME 2910 since 1995. He has been involved in the Library’s African American Culture Association since 1999, currently serving as Vice President. He also chaired the Transit Fare Subsidy Committee in 1998–1999.